Valentine's Day with Death by Nutella Cake

Buongiorno a tutti!! Happy Valentine’s Day. Whether you’re spending today with your boyfriend, spouse or just a group of friends, I have the perfect treat to share. It involves nutella and chocolate. Do I have your attention now? I thought so. I am making my Death by Nutella Cake for tonight’s festivities (and no, I’m not telling you what they are!!). This cake is incredible. I made it the first time a few weeks ago and brought it to some friends who went nuts over it!

This is a layer cake made with a nutella brownie, nutella mousse, nutella glaze, melted chocolate and roasted hazelnuts. It’s insane. If you aren’t in love, you will be!! And if you’re looking to seal the deal with some tonight, I think this cake will do the trick. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be around you more if you keep baking cakes like this!?!? This cake is a lot of steps, but believe me…it is 100% worth it. Enjoy!!

DEATH BY NUTELLA CAKE

Nutella Brownie

1 stick unsalted butter

½ cup cocoa powder

¾ cup sugar

½ cup nutella

3 ounces melted chocolate

2 eggs

½ cup flour

½ tsp. salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Butter a round cake pan (9 by 1 ½ inch pan) and set to the side.

Melt 1 stick of butter and ½ cup of cocoa powder in the microwave, very slowly. You will want the cocoa to completely blend with the butter until it is smooth. When it’s silky, add ¾ cup sugar, ½ cup of nutella and 3 ounces of melted chocolate. Whisk in 2 eggs, add ½ cup flour and ½ tsp. salt. Fold. Make sure there are no lumps!! Pour into your cake and bake for 30 minutes.

When it is done, take it out of the oven and allow to cool for at least two hours. In the meantime, prepare the nutella mousse….

Nutella Mousse

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp. espresso powder

1 tsp. hazelnut extract

½ cup nutella

In a medium size steel bowl, add 1 cup heavy cream, 1 tsp. espresso power and 1 tsp. hazelnut extract. Whisk until the espresso powder is dissolved. Add ½ cup nutella and using an electric beater, whisk until soft peaks form, this should take around 2-3 minutes. Do not overbeat though. Cover the bowl and refrigerate for two hours. Prepare the nutella glaze now..

Nutella Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

¼ cup nutella

3 tbsp. milk

Add powdered sugar, nutella and milk to a medium size bowl. Whisk together until smooth.

Chocolate Drizzle

3 ounces of 70% chocolate

Prepare a double boiler filled with an inch of water and melt chocolate slowly until smooth. Set aside.

Toasted Hazelnuts

½ cup of blanched and toasted hazelnuts

After blanching and toasting the hazelnuts, roughly chop them and set aside.

Assembling the Cake

Step 1- First start off with the cooled nutella brownie. Using a serrated knife carefully cut the brownie into two layers. Set one layer aside, leaving the other bottom layer where you will fully prepare and present it when it is done.

Step 2- Take the nutella mousse out of the refrigerator and spoon onto the bottom brownie layer. It should flow over the whole cake. Using a spatula spread over the brownie, leaving an inch or so of the edges of the brownie bare (when you put the final brownie layer on top, it will naturally push some of the mousse further.)

Step 3- Drizzle 1 ounce of the melted chocolate over the mousse layer.

Step 4- Carefully put the top brownie layer over the mousse layer. Drizzle the rest of the melted chocolate over the top layer. Pour the glaze over the top brownie layer and spread evenly. Let is drip over the sides of the cake.

Step 5- Last but not least, sprinkle the chopped hazelnuts over the top of the cake. Buon Appetito!!